"At that time, I could not believe that there was such a nice person there to help me," Xiuxiu (alias) whose father died from COVID-19 on Feb. 8 and mother was admitted to ICU two days afterwards, said this when recalling Lou Weizhen's help.

Lou Weichen hugs Xiuxiu before he leaves. 

The morning of April 8, Lou Weichen, a young man born after 1995, left Wuhan city of central China's Hubei province, the former epicenter of the COVID-19 disease. On the first day of the lunar year, Lou was one of the civilian volunteers who came from another part of the country to aid Wuhan, driving into the city from his hometown of Anji county in east China's Zhejiang province, bringing along 4,000 surgical masks he bought at his own expense.

Xiuxiu was the first Wuhanese that Lou lent a helping hand. On Feb. 11, after learning about Xiuxiu's family situation, Lou bought her two boxed meals along with a note saying "there is no winter insurmountable; there is no spring that will not come. Hang in there. Take care of your brother...Please call my phone when you are in trouble".

"Originally I wanted to give the masks as presents; however, at the entrance to Wuhan city, I could have no sight of people or cars. It was more serious than I expected, so I decided to come in and be a volunteer. I stayed here for over 70 days," said Lou Weichen.

During his 74-day volunteer life in Wuhan, Lou has never stopped helping others. He believed, "When all the money is gone, I will be able to earn it back. However, when a life standing in front of you is gone, (I am afraid that) if I hesitate for a moment, there will be consequences that I will regret for the rest of my life."

A few days before Wuhan’s lockdown ended, Lou noticed there were more pedestrians and vehicles while he was wandering on the streets. "It's starting to get busy again. This contrast is really too big... I was part of it, and I felt that everything I did was worthwhile."

Before leaving Wuhan, Lou received a message from someone he once helped, stating "thank you for bringing color to our black and white world."

"The purpose of volunteering is to give people hope again," he said, adding "the experience of being a volunteer in Wuhan makes me more aware of the meaning of life."